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I found mine today with the MojoUL.. a gorgeous sunset fly.. had the beach almost to myself with a slight breeze right out of the west.. Winter has been really rough here this year and flying has been few and far between.. SKb sent me some new music and between the wind, sunset over the ocean and the most wonderful kite I felt like i was on some sort of high..

my kite zen is going flying and not hear any thing but soft whisper of the wind and the stress going right out the lines as the sun set off in the West. then I leave the feild and the Zen is gone lol life goes on

After work, yesterday, i went flying for a little while. Nobody was around. There was a big hawk nearby that was involved with getting his next meal; he wasn't very apprehensive about me it seemed... and when he obtained his dinner he carried it to a distant tree. The winds were very low at first, but then they became better. i left my MP3 Player at home... but the natural sounds more than made up for it! It was a Friday... and i knew that i'd be flying the next day... which i will be. It was a splendid hour and a half!

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Excerpt lyrics from Rush:Follow men's eyes as they look to the skiesThe shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams...

The closest I've come to True Kite Zen has to be when I first figured out how to fly my Rev. Having been a dual-liner for like 20 years, trying to learn to fly quad was extremely tough; had to constantly wrestle my cerebellum in order to avoid stalling the kite out and smacking into the ground like I was 10 years old all over again, struggling to keep my TOTL Spinoff in the air for more than 15 seconds.

Then, on my third time out, about 10 minutes into a nice late afternoon flying session in excellent wind on my favorite field, it all just clicked into place all of a sudden. Like one moment, I was battling against my muscle memory and losing horribly, and the next, I was totally in the zone, effortlessly doing razor-sharp 90-degree turns with a casual wrist-flick, side-sliding like I knew what I was doing, and so on. No really uber moves, of course, but still -- control -- I could control the thing. Without even thinking about it.

It was pure magic. I got a tingly feeling all over like I get when listening to a particularly sublime piece of music for the first time in many years. A high that simply cannot be artificially produced, because it's physical, mental, and spiritual (and I'm a quasi-atheist, so that last part's pretty awesome for me).

Hasn't happened again since, not even when I learned how to do an inverted hover. But the memory of it is not too small a portion of what makes me continually obsessed with flying Revs.

Spent three hours on my SSZ today. First sustained flying time on it since I bought it. It's more snappy than the Zerostar and only a hair less floaty. Did backspin cascades on the SSZ, with 3-times reversing each direction. Pulled that off several times. Zen! Prior best was several one-time reversing backspin cascades each direction on a Deep Space, with lots of attempts to get those.

SSZ handled gusts and shifting winds well. It is a nice addition to my flying options for a summer full of light and variable wind days. Zen!

My kite zen experience involved a rev also, in 1992. I took a temporary job in a kite shop on Clearwater beach in Florida. My first day I bought a Rev ll, and after work headed to the beach to try it out. All day between customers I had been watching the vid, practicing the moves for basic turns with the handles. After a time of frustration, just as the sun was setting, I got it. I could launch, fly and turn. Moment by moment things began to make sense. Then I realized the air was warm, there was a live band playing on the beach and the palm trees were waving in the evening sea breeze.

My all-time best Zen moment was with a Rev II, also. It's that kind of kite! Glad to read it's done the same for at least three of us.

The inverted hover wasn't in my bag at the time, but I had the rest of the basics under moderate control. D River Park at Lincoln City was packed all the way to the Best Western, so I set-up there.

After about three or four hours of non-stop flying, the peripheral vision was gone, awareness of the surroundings was gone, and only the ocean sounds entered my consciousness. It was just the kite, sky, sand, ocean, and me in my little world. As the sun was setting, I snapped out of the trance. It was shocking to realize I was still on the beach with people wandering around.

i left my MP3 Player at home... but the natural sounds more than made up for it!

Amen! No Zen with MP3! Just the sound of nature ...

Well, i don't think that it's necessarily correct to say when a Zen moment can (or cannot be). It depends on a lot of unknown variables (and possible non-variables), including the integrity of the mind and feeling the measureless mystery that's there (even among man-made things). Insight can occur if one goes beyond the dead masses.

Today, for example, the winds were very high, but i was still flying (while listening to the MP3 player); it was fantastic! One of the songs reminded me of a time when i almost drowned, late one evening, in very icy waters while no one else was around... i barely made it; it helped me to be very appreciative of today's experience.

Lyrics from Rush:

Sweet Miracle

I wasn't walking on waterI was standing on a reefWhen the tide came inSwept beneath the surfaceLost without a traceNo hope at allNo hope at all

Oh, sweet miracleOh, sweet miracleOf life

I wasn't walking with angelsI was talking to myselfRising up to the surfaceRaging against the nightStarless night

Oh, sweet miracleLove's sweet miracleOh, sweet miracleOf life

I wasn't praying for magicI was hiding in plain sightRising up from the surfaceTo fly into the light

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Excerpt lyrics from Rush:Follow men's eyes as they look to the skiesThe shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams...

Here's a cut and paste of part of an article called "Unforgettables" I wrote for our local club newsletter in 2000. This kite has given me more moments of Zen over the years than any other.

Moondance

A few weeks ago I left work a little early and headed over to Shoreline to get some flying time before dark. I had recently fallen completely, head over heels, in love with my new PBSK Stiletto. It's easily the most fun all-around kite I've flown. My custom Stiletto is very unusual looking. The all black sail has a striking center pattern in white called the "Tribal Shield". Sunlight coming through the white area accentuates the contrast of the overall design.

The late afternoon wind was very light, and I found myself amazed by how well the Stiletto held on to the sky. One of my goals for the next few months is to learn some tricks, so I spent the next hour or so completely wrapped up in shaky 540s and sloppy flick-flacks. Before I knew it the sun was on it's way and I was kinda burnt out on all the repetitive practice. The wind was light but very smooth, so I started to fly the Stiletto like one of my big ballet kites. Slow, graceful patterns and long delicious stalls were moving me into the state I call "kite bliss". Absolute end of the day relaxation.

By this time the sun was long gone and I was flying against a multicolored, slowly changing sky. The black kite was mesmerizing with it's white graphics glowing in the fading light. At some point I noticed the nearly full moon up there towards the left side of the wind window. As the kite passed over it I had a fleeting glimpse of the moonlight through the sail. I brought the kite back around and tried a stall right on top of the moon. Not as easy as I thought, given the lack of wind and the height of the target. The kite would stall above or to the side of the moon and slip slowly by. As the sky darkened, the kite seemed to glow then fade in it's slow motion dance across the moon.

This is one of those “Unforgettables” that's hard to describe. Try a moondance sometime yourself.

We got to fly again yesterday.. wind out of the east but still nice.. just enough to keep a std in the air.

I am so glad to heat that it's possible to learn how to fly revs after flying nothing but dualies.. I want to learn this summer.. I have one just waiting to get in the air.. i am a bit intimidated by it

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